The present invention relates to the field of baby products. More specifically, the present invention relates to baby feeding product sterilization devices and methods.
Previously, baby feeding products, such as baby bottles, breast pumps, and pacifiers have been sterilized by boiling in hot water or in steam. Although these methods appear to be effective, the inventors believe such techniques are time consuming as they require constant supervision and such techniques are inconvenient as they require a stable location, e.g. a stove top or counter top, to hold the boiling water, steam, etc.
Some recent proposals have been made to sanitize baby bottles using UV light produced from a UV lamp, e.g. medium pressure mercury gas lamp. The inventors believe that such techniques are dangerous as they introduce mercury into the home and introduce a mercury source next to something that the baby will put into its mouth. The inventors believe that UV lamps are also fragile, as they rely upon brittle glass or quartz to contain the mercury gas, accordingly, the inventors believe that usage of UV lamps for baby products is not advisable. Further, when considering the use of UV mercury lamps for portable sterilization of baby products, the inventors believe that the fragile mercury bulb can be subject to extreme forces, e.g. dropping onto the pavement, and shatter. The stored mercury will thus be transferred to a baby's bottle nipple, pacifier, or the like. Another drawback is that UV light from mercury bulbs may undesirably generate ozone gas. In particular, because UV light from mercury bulbs generate a broad spectrum of UV light, including around 185 nm, a bottle sterilizer that relies upon mercury bulbs may produces ozone gas. Such a gas is particularly harmful to infants, and of course harmful to the environment.
In light of the above, what is desired are methods and devices for sterilization of baby products such as bottles, nipples, pacifiers, and the like without the drawbacks discussed above.